Islam’s view on the status of women has been among the controversial topicsin the American universities in recent decades. The rise of the political Islamand its embodiment in the Islamic Republic of Iran is considered by manycritics as the turning point in the making of the Muslim women as ananalytical category for the Western observers. This study focuses on Muslimwomen’s citizenship as a modern concern، and analyzes two major Americanacademic approaches to the quality of Iranian women’s citizenship under theIslamic Republic. It addresses two textbooks، Women and Gender in Islam(1992) and An Enchanted Modern (2006)، which represent the mostfrequently addressed textbooks in the course syllabi used at the top twentyAmerican universities in the academic year 2014-2015. The present paper،then، exploits Saied R. Ameli’s classification of discourse to compare the twoprevalent discourses of Islamoromia and Islamoverita in the mentionedtextbooks. Islamoromia indicates that Muslim women’s citizenship under theIslamic-oriented government is frequently put against the secular “normal” formof the state when the latter is given discursive advantage. However، an emergingvoice of Muslim women about the enabling capacity of the Islamic Republic، onthe Islamoveritic side، is recognized as a promising changing narrative.

The Prospect of the United States and Saudi Arabia?s Relations In Light of the Khashoggi MurderZahra Aghamohammadi,Ali Omidi *Pages 605-632Abstract Full Text [PDF 277KB]

A decade after the establishment of the Saudi regime Riyadh and Washingtonconstructed a strategic alliance between themselves in 1945. On the other hand،given the “Pivot to Asia” doctrine adopted by the Obama and TrumpAdministrations، the decline of Washington's dependence on Saudi oil، as wellas some important events such as the murdering of Saudi journalist JamalKhashoggi by Riyadh officials، the prospect of relations between the twocountries has been highlighted in political circles. Based on a scenarioplanningstudy، the current paper tries to answer the question: “what willhappen to the future of US-Saudi relations considering the aftermath of theKhashoggi murder?” Concerning the impact of this fiasco on the future of USSaudirelations، we can logically consider five scenarios: the continuation of thestatus quo، the deepening of strategic relations، the decline of strategic relations،a strategic shift، and، finally، the elimination of strategic relations. But givenongoing circumstances، the deepening or end of strategic relations is unlikely tohappen، the present article only focuses on the three other scenarios; thecontinuation of the status quo، the power shift and the decline of strategicrelations amidst the two countries. However، the removal of Mohammed binSalman (MBS) from the position of crown prince (should it be low-cost) couldalso be in Washington's agenda for maintaining strategic ties between the twocountries. The paper's hypothesis is inclined to the status quo scenario and arguesthat with the official stances of the Trump Administration، in particular that ofNovember 20، 2018، the strategic alliance of Riyadh-Washington will continue،with more expenses shouldered from the Riyadh side.

It has been argued and stated that the 21st century is America's PacificCentury، the century or millennium of Asia، and century or era of China، theinevitable superpower. This paper explains the essence of the new changeswhen the Pivot Policy was announced by President Obama in 2011. Themain question discussed is therefore the following: ‘Why (and how) didPresident Obama adopt (and implement) the Pivot to Asia policy in 2011?’One probable answer to this question is that President Obama intended toprevent “China’s hegemony” in East Asia through the Pivot Policy; however،“China’s hegemony” was carried out by economic and military levers. Thetheory applied is Joseph Nye’s “Liberal Realism،” because the Pivot as aquestion of foreign policy is considered to be part of Realism and Liberalismsimultaneously، and can be used for analysis at both global and domesticlevels. The methodology used in this research is a mix methodology ofQualitative Content Analysis and Case study. The “Pivot” or “Rebalance” toAsia is a policy based on significant changes such as the rise of China andthe US relative decline، at global and domestic levels، respectively. The Pivotis a regional coherent strategy from the Indian ocean to the Americas، astrategy of cooperation and competition toward China، implemented through“smart” leadership، rather than hegemony by economic and military toolslike modern alliances، partnerships and institutions in order to prevent“China’s rise” and lead it to a responsible emerging power when in the halfof the millennium، 2050، it reaches its peak of progress. The U.S. tries tomaintain its worldwide leadership status up to the 22th century through theimplementation of the Pivot Policy in 2011.

Exploring the Role of Brands in Public DiplomacyMohammad Ali Shirkhani,Issa Adeli *Pages 675-698Abstract Full Text [PDF 226KB]

diplomacy receives more attention، both in research and in practice. At thesame time، with the increasing role of non-state actors in internationalrelations، their significant roles and functions have come under substantialscientific analysis. While companies engage in business abroad، unintendedresults may emerge، affecting the image of their country of origin. One ofthem is the effects that brands and products have on the perception of theirhome countries’ foreign policy. This article examines the role of brands in public diplomacy. Thequestion is whether it is scientifically reasonable to assign a publicdiplomacy role to brands. While such a relation has not been treated inprevious research، the authors of this article try to explore and analyze thevarious elements of this relation to find a well-founded answer. Our analysisuses the national image as a mediator concept between brands and publicdiplomacy. It starts with a definition of new public diplomacy and itsdifferences with the classical one. It then continues along the concept ofcorporate diplomacy، national image، the country of origin (COO) effect، andits inverse version. In the end، the most possible and clear answer، accordingto currently available literature، will be discussed.

Keywords: corporate diplomacy, country of origin effect, inverse country of origin effect, national image, new public diplomacy

Existing evidence seems to indicate that Muslims in Scotland haveconstructed hyphenated or hybrid identities that draw on religion، ethnicityand nationality. However، minor attention has been given to the differencesin importance، meanings، and strengths of these identities، or the significanceof their identity markers. Ethnic minority people can be identified with boththeir ethnic groups and their country of residence; each identity can be eitherstrong or weak، or identification with both can be high. The extent anddegree of identification with specific identity markers (such as ethnicity،nationality or religion) can be varied and subjected to difference. This paperdiscusses the importance، meaning، and strength of these markers inMuslims’ identity negotiation in Scotland through an analysis of theimportance of ethnicity، religion and nation. Drawing on a study based ontwenty-seven semi-structured and qualitative interviews carried out in 2011with second-generation1 Muslims across Scotland’s major cities and smalltowns، this research suggests the importance of social imposition (labellingbehaviour and mis-recognition)، family education and cultural ties in varyingthe meanings and the strength of second-generation Muslims’ national andethnic identities in Scotland. In addition، this paper highlights thesignificance of various levels of religiosity in differentiating the meaningsand strength of participants’ religious identities.

New Global Governance and the Future of the State Institution in the Middle EastSiamak Bahrami *Pages 735-774Abstract Full Text [PDF 319KB]

Changes in the international system، along with crises in the Middle East andthe emergence of inefficient states coexisting with religious and racial groupsin the region، make one wonder about the nature of the state in today’ssystematic world، in general، and the nature of the state in the Middle East، inparticular. The present study provides a theoretical framework based onquantum mechanics، known as New Global Governance or the pattern ofproliferative order (in contrast to the distributive order pattern) in an attemptto examine changes in the concept of the state in developed anddeveloping/underdeveloped (the Middle East) countries. It focuses on classstructure in the context of global governance and the way in which it isrelated to the state in order to examine the nature of the state in the future.The study argues that in the new systemic order in developed worlds، statesdrive class struggles from the economic realm into the political realm andsustain themselves as an institution. However، in the Middle East، states aremythic; they lack social bonding forces and are highly influenced by classstructure، dominant political and economic structures، their meta-classnature، and the emergence of multi-group movements challenging states، makingthem vulnerable to continuous breakdown. In such a situation، new myths ofgovernance as governance institutes، such as partisan-urban governance in theKurdistan region، the Islamic emirate of al-Qaeda، the Isis Islamic Caliphate، theRojava Cantons and the Democratic confederalism of P.K.K. will replace thestate and the collapsed states will never regain their power.

Keywords: New global governance, the myth of the state, new governance in Middle East2